Peters Canyon

 

Just ten minutes up the road from my sisters is Peters Canyon, a nice five mile hiking loop complete with a ranger station. I went hiking with my sister’s neighbor and my new hiking friend, Carla.

 

 

As you can see, there were the usual wild flowers, but also some nice cacti that were blooming

 

There were the usual up and downs which seems to be a part of all of the hikes in this area

and some nice thistles.  Nice if you’re careful not to step in them.

And while we may not be the fastest hikers, we did cover our distance while a snail spent the morning crossing the path. He does seem to be a little confused on the direction and obviously does not have the ten essentials for hiking.

More photos of Peters Canyon

Santiago oaks

 

I went out to Santiago Oaks Regional Park, which is located next to the last remaining orange grove in the city of Orange.

While the wild flowers were out in full bloom

It is probably best known for its variety of 140 different bird species.

However, they tend to hide in the bushes or come flying over a ridge only to disappear before I can get the camera out.  I did see the Easter bunny

and his good friend, the pass over lizard.

 

And I got to see beneath the skin and view the skeleton of a prickly pear cactus

 

It was a nice hike that went a long a creek shaded by oak trees

 

 

and climbed up to some nice vistas along the ridge tops.

More photos of Santiago Oaks

Orange County hikes

 

While down in Orange County visiting my sister, I was delighted to find there were some nice few hour hikes with in a thirty minute drive of Disneyland.  And so, I pulled out my I phone and typed in Weir Canyon regional park. Unfortunately my I phone occasionally locates things on the corner of ‘could be” and “not likely.” and so I pulled up to a end of the street that had a trail that could be the right one, but didn’t seem very likely since I was expecting a trail sign more encouraging than “no trespassing.” However, with the help of a couple of policemen, I soon got to the right location.

The trail is actually twenty two miles long and goes from upper orange county down to the beach at Laguna, but I only had time for about five miles of the trail.  California has had a lot of rain and the country side was still green with a lot of wild flowers.

 

The trail went up and down over hill and dale with a lot of canyons and skyline shots.

 

I lived in Southern California for a year and do not remember the hills being this green.  Normally it would be the beginning of fire season, but I guess La Nina was wet for all of us.

And the wild flowers were out in profusion, as well as the California sage which can be seen in the foreground of the following photo. The California sage was used by the early pioneers to get rid of bed bugs and fleas.  get some for your next trip to New York.

More photos of Weir Canyon Hike

Vina del Mar

 

The name means vineyard by the sea and it is just around the bay from Valparaiso.  It was our last stop before heading to the airport and the flight home. While Valparaiso has a great deep water port, it lacks a good beach where you can swim and sun bathe.

 

Vina del Mar makes up for that with great beaches

rocky inlets with tide pools

and strong currents that can be used to sweep any unwanted family members out to sea.

While it lacks Valparaiso’s character, it does have a casino, spas, beautiful people and a great museum of Easter Island artifacts.

It was with sadness that we headed to the airport to head home, greater sadness during the 21 cramped hours it took to get home, but even greater happiness at being home with family and friends.

Valparaiso

 

Valparaiso is a port town that has been designated as a World Heritage site because of its architecture. If you look at the picture below you can see the main harbor area has great 18th century architecture, but the real gems are on the hill side you see in the background.

They can be reached by takings the “new” funicular, it was built in 1904, up to the top.  The sign to it is rather unnerving stating that it was built in 1904 and maintained in 1904. Valparaiso has 15 funiculars, but only three of them are operating.

In 1994 they were designated as “one of the top 100 most endangered historic sites in the world.” It still beats walking up all of those stairs to get to the top.  Once there you are in the old section.

It is an area in transition. Like Cominito, it is where the ship workers and immigrants lived.

The architecture consists of houses built with galvanized steel painted in bright colors.

Before the Panama canal opened, Valparaiso was one of the main shipping ports on the west coast of the Americas.  Everything going around the horn stopped for provisions and pleasure. The galvanized steel was used as ballast on the ships and could be acquired cheaply or at no cost, since no one would carry those heavy sheets in the heat of the day, and a considerate person would never take a gentleman away from his evening dinner just to inquire if he might have a few of those old useless sheets of steel lying around the ship yard. The bright colors were marine main that had also been scavenged. It does make for colorful buildings, but I bet they were hot in the summer. In my experience air conditioning always trumps quaint.

I like the folk art that people paint on their walls and doorways.

But there are still parts of the old section to be seen. They seem to be more colorful in the light of day. Probably kind of scary at night.

and some times kind of brooding.

Many more pictures of Valparaiso

Pre Columbian Museum

 

It has a great museum of pre Columbian art. 

The Chilean Indians  had a very complicated view of time.  They believed that they are composed of parts of their ancestors this life was a preparation to be an ancestor.  They thought that the past, present and future all existed simultaneously.

The pottery work was great

And you’ve got to love gold work.

And one pottery that really looked like it was Chinese to me.

This statue was done in about 1200 AD.  There is a lot of people, not all crazy, who believe that the Chinese landed and settled in Peru between 200 and 500 AD.

Pre-Columbian Museum

Santiago

 

Santiago is a very cosmopolitan city, with just a few reminders that it was under a military dictator twenty five years ago.

The feeling on the military dictatorship is complicated.  Many people are still supporters of Pinochet.  Chile had the strongest economic growth it has ever had under Pinochet and many people feel that Allende was connected to the KGB. It does get very complicated with no easy answers.

Modern Santiago is filled with monuments to old liberators such as Simon Bolivar,

and young children who understand the purpose of these monuments.

I enjoy the plaza life and really like setting around watching people.

 

It is as they say, “a dogs life.”

More pictures of Santiago